KAFCON 2024: Knocked out early, but it was fun
- Ticha
- Jul 25, 2024
- 3 min read
From Saturday 20th to Sunday 21nd Pyeongtaek University Hosted the prelimenary round of the 2024 Korean African Cup of Nations football tournament. A competition for the African communities in Korea but open to everyone. My country Zimbabwe, finalists for the past two years, were knocked out early in the group stage. Here are my observations on a day full of laughs, cheers, screams and groans.
Venue
Situated near the Pyeongteak University entrance, the soccer field was surrounded by a running track which left orange marks on your butt, as some unfortunate souls would find out and concrete benches that looked like big steps on one side of the field's length and behind one of the goals, where we set up base.
This area had a little overhead cover which would protect us from the rain and sun, which became even more intense in the afternoon. I found the concrete benches uncomfortable, so much so that I sat on a bag full of clothes to give my butt some relief.
The teams
There were 18 teams placed in four groups participating in total. In Zimbabwe's group we faced Unganda first,The defending champions Gambia second and Mali in our last match. What I liked about this year, was that every country had their own kits whether fabricated by themselves or replicas of their national team's threads.
Our team came with a custom fit that was inspired by the Zimbabwe flag colors and a second solid red kit which we would wear when their was a color clash with opponents. Once again we had the largest contingent of players who hailed from other countries: Zambia, Ghana, Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, Liberia, Ethiopia, South Africa, Senegal and Mauritius. Though Uganda had a white goalkeeper and Cameroonian striker!
Liberia who were in the other group along with Ethiopia, Burundi and Ivory Coast, were well supported and organized. They generated a good ambience, playing beats on their sound system from all over Africa and had an MC/chef , which we will talk about later.
The matches
This year, we had licenced Korea Football Association KFA referees which was a great call because last year, the African officials were accused of biased officiating in favor or against certain countries. This year's refs had no ties to the motherland and called the matches straight down the middle. There were times when they struggled though, in one of our games, the referee accidently showed one of our players a red card when he meant to pull out yellow. The tackles from some of our opponents were also reckless at times, with some challenges really warranting red. But other than that, all the games flowed and were entertaining.
In our first game against Uganda, our team looked like what it was; a team of individuals who for the most part had not played with each other. Uganda capitalized on our teething problems, securring a deserved 1-0 win. We had no time to lick our wounds as we would play Gambia, a rematch of last year's final.
This was my favorite game of our tournament. Gambia scored early in the game through their captain who goes by the nickname "Lai" but it didn't take us long to equalize through Brian, who had just come back from an ACL injury suffered in last year's tournament. Our Zambian/Zimbo for the day dribbled past three players before calmy guiding his shot past the goalkeeper. What a special moment.
That match finished 1-1 and we needed to beat Mali to advance to the knockout stages. Perhaps it was the nerves that got to us, we simply didn't show up and the 6-2 scorline in favor of Mali emphaticallly proved that point. Disappointing.
The food
Captain Orein did not want to spoil the team for underperforming, so instead of eating out at a restaurant. An assortment of McDonald's Mc Chicken, Double Cheese, fries and soft drinks were ordered for the team. After the physical and emotional effort everyone put in, no one complained. We also had watermelon which was the perfect heat counter and energy booster. Team Liberia's MC/Chef was also selling food/drinks. There was jollof rice with barbeque pork ribs and an assortment of drinks like Malta Goya, a popular Malt beverage in West Africa. My stomach was full from the burger's but if it had space, I would have definitely tried their food as it was teasing my nose.
To conclude
This years KAFCON had more teams, better referees, a venue that didn't have the best seating and a great atmosphere mostly generated by the Liberians. While our team underperformed, it is always nice to share moments with your countrymen and other Africans. I am sure the 2025 KAFCON will be even better and of course, Zimbabwe will come back stronger.
Photos Courtesy of Kang Ho "Hendrix" Lee
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